1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cutting tool which is provided in particular for the machining of piston rings.
2. Background Information
Piston rings are a mass-produced item used in internal combustion engines in the automobile industry, for example. The manufacture of piston rings, which is usually done using machining processes, is especially complicated to the extent that piston rings generally have a micro-structured surface on their outside periphery. For example, piston rings are frequently provided with a ring-shaped centering or spacer web, the axial dimension of which with respect to the axis of the piston ring is only a few millimeters. A precision external contour of this type is frequently produced by both an axial and radial movement of the cutting tool along the periphery of the piston ring. However, a process of that type is relatively time-consuming and can therefore be used only to a limited extent for mass production.
On one cutting tool described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,192 for the manufacture of a piston ring, the cutting tool is advanced in the axial direction along the periphery of an untrimmed blank, and thereby initially cuts only a half-contour in the grinding face of the untrimmed blank. To complete the piston ring, a second processing step is necessary, during which there the second grinding face of the untrimmed blank is machined.